Every month on the 18th, I celebrate women. This month I sat down with Juliet, divorce and family law attorney, wife, mom and author recently features in Forbes magazine for her her book Divorce Wisdom.

We met this year through our incredible networking group, the Inner Circle with Lewis Howes. I was instantly drawn to her and her work. Having personally gone through a difficult divorce, it’s critical to have someone like Juliet who truly cares about both parties.

Meet Juliet

18th Style: Where are you from?

Juliet: I live in Vancouver, Washington which is pretty much where I have lived since I was 6.

18th Style: Tell us a bit about your background?

Juliet: I was raised in a typical American family.  My parents are still married and live nearby me.  I have one older brother who lives about an hour away. I followed a straight path from high school to college and then law school.  I started practicing law for a big firm in my hometown right after graduation.  Took and passed two state bar exams and worked hard to establish a practice and reputation for myself in the community.

I have had my own law firm for many years now.  My primary area of practice is divorce or family law, but I also practice in the areas of guardianship, wills and estate administration.  I work in very people-oriented areas of the law which I feel really suits my personality and strengths. I have been married 15 years and have two kids, age 7 (daughter) and 12 (son). 

18th Style: You’re a mom and wife – what’s your favorite thing to you with your family when you’re not working?

Juliet: I just enjoy hanging out with my family.  We love to celebrate holidays, special occasions and any event that warrant some celebrating.  While we like to watch movies and chill out, we also like to be active – hiking, biking, etc.  I am a runner and this past year we have been trying to get the kids to join us for various running events which has been fun.  I am also a soccer mom who is learning not to use her voice as much at games per the request of my son. 😊

18th Style: Your book, Divorce Wisdom, was recently featured in Forbes, this is an incredible accomplishment. Can you tell us why you wrote this book?

Juliet: As a divorce lawyer, I’ve been through a lot of divorces and none of them are ever easy on the people involved.  Stress, struggle and uncertainty are distracting or overwhelming for people experiencing divorce.  With all my experience navigating divorces, I felt like I could provide a practical and smart resource for people thinking about divorce or going through one.  I believe my book will help ground people during what is often the most traumatic life event they experience.

18th Style: I know we could focus the entire interview on this, but what’s one piece of advice you would give a couple going through a divorce?

Juliet: Learn and practice acceptance.  If you are the person who wants the divorce, accept that it may take your spouse some time to catch up and process the ending of your marriage.  Becoming upset with your spouse because he or she isn’t at the same place as you or ready to dive in and divide up assets won’t be productive. 

Similarly, if you do not want the divorce, accept that it is happening because denying or avoiding it won’t help you in the long run.  Further, both spouses should accept that they can’t control each other or every detail in the process.  When a person accepts the reality of their circumstances in the moment rather than repel them, they are better able to tolerate all the uncomfortable feelings (anger, frustration, fear and the list goes on), think clearly and make the impactful decisions they need to in the process.

18th Style: According to an August 2017 article in US News and World Reports, statistically, divorce is much more detrimental for women financially, in your opinion, why is this?

Juliet: I think there are probably a few reasons why divorce is more detrimental financially for women.  First, although a lot of progress has been made over the years in wage equality, women still tend to earn less than men overall according to the research. 

Second, a transition from one household to two households occurs after a divorce.  If a woman earns less than her former spouse, her income will not go as far to meet her separate household budget after divorce.  Related to this is that if a woman hasn’t had a lot of involvement in managing the household finances before divorce, there may be a learning curve for her after divorce. 

Third, women are still predominantly in the primary caregiver role for children which means they may be working less or not at all at different times during the marriage.  This impacts not only what women earn at those times but also what they are accruing for retirement and their earnings record for Social Security.  Women may also be playing catch-up in terms of their wages as they re-enter the workforce or return to full-time employment post-divorce.

18th Style: Ok, let’s lighten the topic of conversation and have a little fun. What are the last three things you bought from Amazon?

1. Perfume for me
2. Ski pants for my daughter
3. Sparkly notepad for a gift

18th Style: Favorite televisions shows?

Juliet: World of Dance and This is Us

18th Style:  If you could have one superpower, what would it be and why?

Juliet: I would like to fly.  I think it would be cool to be able to see everything from higher vantage point.  It might also increase my chances of being on time if I could get there quicker.

18th Style: Favorite quote or saying?

Juliet: “Have courage and be kind.”

18th Style: Lastly, I love fun facts. Tell us something people wouldn’t know about you? It can be anything. 

Juliet: It isn’t necessarily that I don’t like orange as a color, but more of a coincidence that my least favorite foods are orange.  I don’t like yams, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, carrots or cantaloupe.  I am also not a big fan of oranges themselves. 

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Interested in purchasing Divorce Wisdom?

Divorce Wisdom is available through all major online retailers like Amazon, Barnes & Noble and iBookstore.  

Click here to order on Amazon!

You can also purchase from the book website:  www.divorce-wisdom.comC

Every month on the 18th, I celebrate women. This month I sat down with Julia, hair-stylist, make-up artist and founder of Brush Beauty Inc,and B3Balm, an all-natural and organic skincare line that is dedicated to take the guessing out of what you’re putting on your skin.

We met years ago through one of my best friends from college and I have to say, Julia is one the coolest gals you will ever meet. She is all about supporting women, helping people and giving back. This is one of the many reasons why she started B3 and one of the many reasons why I am a Brand Ambassador for this incredible brand. I hope you enjoy our interview.

Meet Julia

18th Style: Where are you from?

Julia: NYC, I grew up in Manhattan and the Bronx.

18th Style: Tell me about your day job?

Julia: I do hair and makeup for commercial print and TV. My clients consist of NBC, ABC, FILA, Brooks Running, Tom Ford to name a few. I also own Brush Beauty, Inc and B3 Balm. Brush Beauty is a small boutique agency with artists all over the US and B3 is my new all natural and organic skincare line.

18th Style: How do you balance motherhood, life and work?

Julia: I cry and drink. Just kidding, I don’t do either of those… that much. I breath, I try to be conscious of the fact that I do the best that I can and make sure that I make the best out of the time that my daughter and I spend.

Luckily, a lot of my work is done from home now (not the makeup, of course, but B3 and the managing Brush Beauty), so I am able to pick her up from school or help her with her homework, or just sit and hang with her. I think for me it has become about priorities and realizing I can’t get it all done in a day and that that is OK. That spending time with my daughter and my husband is more important than getting the last thing for the day done – that one thing that NO ONE but me will notice if it gets done the next day instead.

18th Style: Please tell everyone more about B3.

Julia: B3 Balm is me being tired of the toxic products that we surround ourselves with. I knew it was possible to make a lot of the same things that we use day to day, make it better AND make it better for us. B3 is an all natural and organic skincare line.

As a makeup artist it was important for me to be able to give my clients something I could stand behind and, also, give them something they can use when we aren’t together – something they can use and not wear makeup too.

B3 Balm is about empowering people to feel good about themselves and, mostly, about giving people a few moments where they can breathe and pamper themselves. Sometimes, we don’t have more than 3-10 minutes in a day for ourselves. When I take five minutes to apply my skincare, it is five minutes to myself, pampering myself with beautiful and all natural products that make me feel really good and beautiful.

18th Style: What is your hope for B3?

Julia: My hope for B3 is success. Not only success in the marketplace, but success in making people feel beautiful in their own skin, naturally. We also give a portion of our proceeds to different charities and civil rights organizations, so I really hope to be able to make an impact with those donation in the future.

18th Style: How do you spend your free time?

Julia: On B3 haha. It’s new and I do it solo at the moment, so it takes a lot. But otherwise, I like going to the gym, I love sitting on my couch and mindlessly watching a show, talking and seeing friends, seeing family.

I would say my most favorite is a free day with my family where we end up taking a beautiful hike and eating out and just spending a day together making memories and having fun. I also just started taking a drawing class, I needed to do something that wasn’t work – art for art sake – something just for me.

18th Style: Who inspires you?

Julia: Ooof! There are so many. First and foremost, it was my mother who passed away 15 years ago. She was one of the most beautiful, fearless and bad-ass women I ever knew, and she was my mama.

Second, I would say my daughter. She has that same bad-ass fearlessness and it is just really cool to see who she is becoming and what she loves to do.

My husband is a constant source of inspiration. His work ethic is mind blowing and his desire to want to help and love is beautiful.

My dad who is retired from being an educator, but still does incredible and beautiful photography and my step mother who is a VP at Yale University.Talk about smashing the glass ceiling and being a boss!

Beside them, I have SO MANY talented and incredible family and friends – being a makeup artist and being able to watch and be inspired by creativity is incredible.

Also all these beautiful moms who work so damn hard, whether being home or working – being a mom is no joke and to see so many kick ass women do it in so many ways is beautiful.

18th Style: Who inspires your style and what’s your favorite store or brand? 

Julia: I have always had a love for McQueen – I think his vision and execution was mind numbing.  The beauty and old-soul darkness in his designs were some of my very favorites.  I like to think that that energy is something that drives me.

18th Style:  How would you describe your style?

Julia: I have a few different styles and it depends what I’m doing. When working, I want to be stylish, but I also need to be comfortable, so that is always a struggle. I really love the old t-shirt, jeans and boots vibe – I really only get dressed up when I have to.

18th Style: Favorite quote or saying?

Julia: “Now, for today.”

18th Style: Anything else you want to share, feel free. 🙂

Julia: Sure, I think when making life and job decisions, it is so important to look at quality of life and what you are gaining or losing by making those decisions.  Sometimes the big title isn’t worth what it comes with outside of work – I think we (myself very much included) tend to forget that we work so that we can enjoy our life and not the other way around.

I don’t want to regret not living my life and not spending time with the people I love and doing things that fulfill me, to me, that is worth making a little less money for a lotta more happiness. 

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